Biodiversity Informatics Horizons 2013

Conference Outline

Biodiversity Informatics Horizons 2013 (BIH2013) is part of a continuing process that helps to structure and organise the biodiversity informatics community at the European level and beyond.

There have been many successful projects in biodiversity informatics, both at national and supranational level. In Europe this trend has grown under Framework Programmes 5, 6 and 7 and is expected to continue in Horizon 2020. Similar activities have occurred outside Europe, and efforts in biodiversity informatics are increasingly internationally coordinated on the global stage.

To respond to the challenges and priorities of the next decade in biodiversity and ecosystems research, structuring bottom-up and top-down interactions on informatics and cooperating across the community is now an essential activity. Cooperation avoids unnecessary duplication of activity. It helps to maximise and focus effort on building the information resources, tools and infrastructure the scientists and policymakers need. We all know the importance of this as we face environmental, societal and human health challenges on global scale. Science in support of policy to mitigate biodiversity loss due to climate and other man-made changes, to assure food security, and to combat invasive species (to give just a few examples) can only be achieved by full integration of the biodiversity research community through a commonly-shared, sustainable e-infrastructure across all sub-disciplines that reliably serves science and society alike. Hence, the need to coordinate.

Invited speakers will review challenging areas and promising technologies in biodiversity informatics, pathways to sustainable implementation and changing the community culture in the context of:

• The LifeWatch vision (Preparatory Phase 2008-2011 and Startup activities 2012-2013);
• Decadal priorities for biodiversity informatics, as expressed by the community in the BMC Ecology Whitepaper (doi:10.1186/1472-6785-13-16); and,
• The EC roadmap workshop on biodiversity infrastructures, 19-20 March 2013 (summary here).

A panel discussion with experts from regions of the world beyond Europe will explore opportunities for international cooperation that lead towards a sustainable global infrastructure.

There will be a plenary discussion on working together towards building a more sustainable future, informed by networking opportunities throughout the conference.

Demonstration and training activities, provided by some of the FP7 projects associated with the conference will allow delegates to see first-hand some of the new and exciting infrastructure building blocks that will come together to deliver the LifeWatch vision.

Outcomes from the conference will include:

• …more to be added…
• Acting as a springboard to form and coordinate consortia to build bids for H2020.

BIH2013 will take place over 3 full days, from lunchtime on Tuesday 3rd September to lunchtime Friday 6th. The venue will be in Rome (awaiting final confirmation).

BIH2013 is sponsored and supported by many existing FP7 projects, including: BioFresh, BIO_SOS, BioVeL, CReATIVE-B, e-Monocot, ENVRI, EU-BON, EUBrazilOpenBio, iMarine, Lifewatch, OpenUp!, PESI, pro-iBiosphere, and ViBRANT.